Abstract
This paper presents a simulation study on a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) light pole that is being used in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The light poles in this area are subjected to cyclic wind load blowing from the Red Sea. It is of great interest to re-investigate the strength and integrity of the structure for future improvement. A three-dimensional numerical simulation has been performed to analyze the effect of wind velocity over the FRP pole. The pole is conical in shape, having a circular hollow cross-section in both the ends and tapered uniformly. The pole considered for simulation is having a height of 6 meters and have conicity of 18 mm/m. The FRP pole is a combination of unsaturated polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyurethane, and glass fibers, which are reinforced by the centrifugal process. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results are validated with the mathematical calculation. The adopted method is fluid-structure interaction (FSI) with SST k-ω (shear stress transport) turbulence model, which is used to simulate the wind velocity over the FRP pole using ANSYS Fluent. The velocity of air considered for simulation ranges from 10 to 50 m/sec. The study provided a good correlation between mathematical calculation and the CFD simulation for each air velocity. The study revealed maximum deflection and equivalent stress occurred at the top and bottom end, which are 217 mm and 85 MPa respectively. The exact region of crack is also predicted for different wind velocity. This method can also be adopted for any FRP poles available.
Highlights
The light pole started its journey as a wood material, later it was replaced by the steel
The reinforcement within the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) pole makes it better in strength and stiffness, the resins creates a stronger bond for the fibers within the pole
The mass conservation equation is the continuity equation. It is defined as the rate of change of mass within a control volume (CV) is equivalent to the net rate of mass flowing into the Control volume. [9]
Summary
The light pole started its journey as a wood material, later it was replaced by the steel. The light pole are generally made of wood, steel, and FRP material. The latest type of material used for manufacturing of light pole is FRP (fiber-reinforced polymer) material. The reinforcement within the FRP pole makes it better in strength and stiffness, the resins creates a stronger bond for the fibers within the pole. The recent development in material properties of FRP, have made it better than other materials used to manufacture light pole. The main properties FRP includes corrosion resistant, light weight and high tensile strength [1]. This properties of FRP makes it a perfect material for street light.
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